A Study Of Moby-Dick From The View Of "Land Ethics"

Moby-Dick is the masterpiece of Herman Melville,the 19th century American romantic novelist.Since the 1990s,the reinterpretation of this text and the rediscovery of its literary value have always existed in the field of foreign literature.Especially in recent years,with the rise of ecocriticism,this novel has received extensive attention from literary critics at home and abroad for its theme describing the conflicts between man and nature.Aldo Leopold,the founder of ecological holism ethics,advocates maintaining "the integrity,stability,and beauty of the biotic community" as a criterion for judging whether things are right or not.It is conformed with Herman Melville's ecological ethical concern for marine lives and aesthetic consciousness of nature in this novel.From the perspective of ecological holism,based on the concept of "Land Ethics",this thesis illustrates the ecological ideas contained in Moby-Dick in the following three aspects:First,in the "Land Pyramid" of Pequod composed of different classes,the upper class's oppression and exploitation to the lower class leads to the disharmony between them,and even the final tragedy.Secondly,Herman Melville's respect for Moby Dick as an equal member of biotic community and criticism on the image of Ahab as a conqueror,corresponds to Leopold's "new ethic".Thirdly,the way of solving the conflicts between human and nature is to reestablish the biotic community,that is,to resolve the contradiction between them by repairing the ethical relationship between humans.As the ecology worsens and the construction of ecological civilization becomes the theme at present,Herman Melville's forward-looking ecological wisdom provide the reference for us to realize the ecological redemption of human destiny.